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Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA
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ence of Dr. o. H Cooper, Wel ..... Welsh holds out alluring advan --t and opulence of opportunity 4 tio ese in almost every walk of lesaless, indeed, exception be made = to disciples of the noble Aescula PMaartt It is universally recognized that te members of the medical profes are usually Christian, cultured ptlemen unselfishly devoted to a ~-ane profession but this section bto0 poor in the ills that flesh is ~i to, to afford a plethora of med "Welsh and the Welsh country," WIlDr. Cooper, a Nestor of the pro lon in Jefferson Davis parish ho as practiced at Welsh for o'er j1purter of a century, "are distress iily healthy. There are but four of uhere, we cover the country ten aeit and nearly a dozen or more a north and south clear to the but if it wasn't for the love large families, that here prevails, manes, in other words. bank acounts would be meagre. is an exceedingly healthy sec shockingly so." ~fithstanding the foregoing bat jocular plaint Dr. Cooper kawn to have a practice that runs , d1 huge five figure numerals, is star of a drug store that does a and lucrative business, is of the Planters Telephone Co., president of the Parish Poli.:e Jurors of Jefferson Davis parish, Is interested in various ventures and enterprises and is altogether an ex ceedingly busy man.. Dr. Cooper located in Welsh in 1885 when there were scarcely more than half a dozen houses in the settlement, when the whoo! whoo! of the long horn was heard in the land and vast herds roamed on the prairie untrameled by fences and when wolves, deer and other game made their habitat here 'inmolested. He preceived the rii1l ness of the country, the strategetic advantages of the town, settled at Welsh and has witnessed its growth Irom a little hamlet to a flourshing metropolis of 2000 souls, vindicating the perspicacity of his judgment. Dr. Cooper is a native of Alabama and a graduate of the Medical Col lege of Alabama, now the medical department of the State University. After graduating in 1886 he practiced for a shoot time at Citronelle, Ala., when he removed to Welsh where he has since resided. He has been one of the strong personalities and forceful factors making for the upbuilding of Welsh and believes the town is but in the incipiency of its development. Al s though always an active and busy s man he has found time to serve i Welsh one year as treasurer, seven s years as councilman and .ix years a1 a mayor. ·-" - "` "~~ !':~ ~~~~~~~. ;:-:: es iln.Sos-H .Vnes rpitr ':pioneer industrial plant of II it one well nigh indispen the great rice industry of A= is the Welsh Machine Itallghed by their present r, M. B. Van Ness, In ý;Wilt these shops manu d..repair pracIcally every hinery or mechanism tbe, rafts and industries of COWit countries, they are **t to the output of deep .and the original slotted .cireen strainer used in of rice. Both the pump and the last named device are the in= ventions of Mr. Van Ness, are duly protected by letters patent and have been found to be peerless for their" respective uses and purposes. M. B. Van Ness is a native of Illi nois, in his 41st year and took up his residence at Welsh eighteen years ago, immediately establishing the plant, an engraving of which is shown in this paper. He has been a potential factor in developing the resources of this rich region and a public spirited and pro gressive citizen in all regards. -J d t t~T' T ri of Welsh's popalar ,ale stable is native blue grass, blooded and bonny women, thinks the Gulf oputs one over even Ucky in salubrity of buty and abundant been coming to the ht years past, add from the Bowline lege in his nat1ie ago took np .his permaneot residene here. : Like all ientutklalns he intuitively kows all the good potls of a hortse ea: dearly loves the eqaine. Be has beena a handler and dealer in horses and nuiles for .oaetime and it April ltast leased the sightly stable on eatb street wherae one can aways d speedY rig- and careful drivers who know the ro± , at reasonable rateS. SU11te°is a great believer in '. . ,fo aelsh and the Welsh THE FARMERS' ASSOCIATION The strongest farmers' co-operative associa tion in the South, and one of the strongest and most successful in the entire country, is the Southern Rice Growers' Associaion, a farmers' rougu rice marketing organization composed OL rice farmers of Louisiana, Texas and Arilran has. T'Is associatiuo maintains a local agency at %) elsh under the direction of Philip H. Cov er.ale, local agent. The 1 clsh district is re garued as one of tue strongest in the associa Lion, both in numbers and in percentage of to tal acreage unuer contract. 'lihe bouthern Rice Growers' Association was organized in ±November, 1910, and began busi ness in January, 1911. At the time of the or- At ganization the rice market w.as in a demoral- 15O4 ized condition, rough rice being quoted at $2.3Y for t per barrel and very little rice moving. The as- This sociation declared that it would not sell the rice is t of its members for iess man .io for No. 1. statc F'or several weeks very little rice was sold, and pany it soon became apparent that a heavy carry ganO over into the ne wcrop was imminent. The as- culti sociation then organized what was known as mean "the export deal," by which a quarter of a mil- cons lion sacks of rice were exported, the association ,ive paying the farmers $2.7i for their rice and its standing the loss involved. This loss amounted cele to about $65,000. ndu The export deal was just what was needed to cone convince the trade that the association had bees strength and financial backing. The result ing was that the trade took hold of rice at the farm-. ing ers' figures and pushed it into consumption. and The prospective carryover was cleaned up and had the season of 1911-12 began with a bare mar. - ket. sto In the fall of 1911 the association put its thei prices up to $3.25 and rapidly advanced them to $3.35 and $3.50, and the season closed with rice selling around $3.75. Conservative millers said that the association had saved the farmers tifty to seventy-five cents a sack on the crop. The season of 1912-13 opened favorably and the association started the minimums at $3.60 a barrel, afterwards advancing the minimum for Honduras to $3.70 and $3.80. It was thought that the price had been put too high, but the trade responded to the farmers' ad vance and the crop was sold by January 1 at high prices, the last of the rice selling as high as $4.50 a barrel. While it is claimed that the association ran the price of rice up to a dangerously high fig ure, the season settled one point effectively, and that was that the association could fix prices high and maintain them. When the w minimums were fixed at $3.60 in September it was freely predicted that the price could.not r be maintained and that the association would have to recede from its position. Association so members sold their rice on a basis of $3.60 and ly over, while many non-association farmers took 31 a great deal less. a r It is safe to say that the Southern Rice Grow ers' Association maintained the price of rough rice seventy-five cents above what it would have been if the association had not been in Sexistence. The present outlook is that the farmers of S Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas will need the h services of this cooperative selling organiza- t tion this season more than ever before. The indications are now that there will be a consid- L erable carryover into the new crop, which will be added to the visible supply to be marketed. There is unquestionably a very large acreage planted, and with average weather conditions until the end of harvest a very large crop may reasonably be expected. The marketing of the coming crop on a basis r profitable to producers will call for the wisest efforts of every interest in the industry. It will be necessary to take advantage af every available market outlet. Above all, CO-OPERATION will be neces- a sary. Co-operation has been successful for three years, and it can be made successful this year. Co-operation in handling the raw material is the basis of all successful co-operation in the rce industry. If the rice farmers will all get together and handle their crop on a wise plan, as has been done heretofore, the coming crop can be marketed on a fair basis, and the way can be paved for the handling of any crop it is possible to raise in this country. If the farmers stand together, every interest in the rice industry will help. Eo very rice farmer in Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis parishes should join the Southern Rice Growers' Association this year, for every addi tional sack aof rice controlled by the farmers' Sorganization adds to the strength of the co Ih operative movement for fair prices. a State Rice Milling Company's Mill, Welsh, La. Louisiana State Rice Milling Company's Mill, Welsh, La. AtWelsh is located a Rice Mill of 1500. barrels daily capacity ample for the new acreage now cultivated. This mill was purchased along with 29 others, two years ago and now is the plroperty of the Louisiana State Rice Milling Company, a com pany with $9,500,000.00 capital or ganized to foster and promote the cultivation of rice and rice milling and corallory therewith to devise means and methods to increase the consumption of this splendidly nutri ,ive food cereal in the nation. Since its establishment it has taken ex cellent and effective steps to secure better distributing methods for the industry, in correcting sales conditions which hitherto had been obviously unfair, and in giv ing stability to the rice market, gain ing the confidence of the wholesaler and more directly belping the farmer than any movement the rice business had before known. Many of the different officers and stockholders of this Company are themselves large growers of rice with interests identical with any other rice farmer. The Company is a large buyer of rough rice and is always ready to take on the farmers rice on a fair and equitable basis, maintaining buyers at every point in the rice belt to this end. It employs 50 men at Welsh dur ing the rice season, paying as high wages as conditions will permit, and it is distinctively a valuable asset contributing to the town's and com munity's material welfare. The officers of the Louisiana State Rice Milling Co., are: President, F. A. Godchaux; Vice-Presidents, Jos. Birg, A. Kaplan, J. Frankel, Sol Wexler; Secy. W. B. Conover, and Treas. J. A. Foster. All are names that are synonymous of success and integrity in Louisi ana's commercial. dustrial' and financial world. The manager for the Louisiana State Rice Milling Co., at Welsh is H. L. Bloch. I Mati s n B . S MatnBos.Soe Wlh i The pioneer mercantile house of Welsh, of the firms now engaged in active business, Is that of Martin tiros. whose place of business is in :heir own sightly store building on the commanding business corner at South and Main streets. This firm has been engaged in ausiness for a score of years or more and it in no wise disparages the ,nany other excellent mercantile em poriums of winsome Welsh to state that it is universally recognized as the house ahead for everything au ;ait in dry goods, clothing, and shoes in which lines it has always specialized and in which lines its stock is always kept down to date in the latest models, patterns, styles, at and finish. It has pleased patrons in every confine of the Welsh coun try and its repute for fair and hon est dealing, coupled with the in herent courtesy that belongs to the native Creole, extends all over Jeffer son Davis parish. The members of the firm are Charles P. Martin and Edwarj brothers and J. Alfred Martin, their nephew, all of whom are to the manor born and first saw the light in Lafayette parish and were there raised and educated. Every year that rolls around to be recorded on the scroll of time shows a gratifying increase in the business of this popu lar house, the present being no ex ception as its volume of trade up to the present writing Is much larger that was the preceding year at a similar date. All the Messrs Martin are great believers in Welsh and its prospects for a prosperous future. As one member of the firm put it they all regard Welsh as "the best town ever placed on the map." J. T. PECK. The commercial circles of Welsh were strengthened bY a strong and tl forceful personality the first of the ' present year when J. T. Peck quit t rice farming to enter the mercantile r field. At that time he purchased the extensive feed business of Messrs c Jones Bros, and he has more than I sustained the high repute and kept I up the standard of the enterprising 1 and progressive business methods I maintained by his worthy predeces sors. Mr. Peck is a wholesale and retail dealer in whole grain ýnd mixed feeds, is a large purchaser of these products in car load lots. Wholesalers in carload lots to var ious places, and is a large retailer to patrons in every portion of the Welsh country. He is the only exclusive dealer in feed stuffs in Welsh. J. T. Peck is in the prime of physi cal and mental vigor and an active and energetic business man. He is a native of Florida but came to Welsh five years ago from Arkansas, where he was raised, as heretofore stated, was a successful rice farmer until the first of the year. HIe is a firm believer in the future growth and prosperity of Welsh and a booster of all movements making for the town's development and up building. ED F. DOAN. It is an exceedingly rare occurence that a legitimate business started in Welsh does not thrive and this sta tistical fact well proves the plutonic prosperity of the town. The latest business bark launched on the mercantile or industrial sea is Ed. Doan's Auto Livery venture and it is sailing on a favoring, full sailed breeze of success. Doubtless the fact that Mr. Doan has lived in the Welsh country over a quarter of a century, knows everybody and has everybody for a friend couple with the speed and beauty of his Ford machine is the secret of his services being in constant demand. He makes all the neighboring cities and towns any hour of the day or night and his rate of charge is reasonable. Mr. Doan makes his down town headquarters at the Busy Bee restua S-rant. l Th' New Iinlom of Con (Continued From Page Two) e crop-corn, the crop in which she ' can lead the world in yield, quality e and cheapness of production and in delightful living conditions for the e corn grower. It is probable that in d five years, Louisiana will be one of ig the chief corn exporting states, sup D" plying European markets with her surplus.